Our Commissioner Manfred presses his intercom, “Please escort in the Guatemalan baseball stitchers.” Manfred’s secretary brings six men dressed in blanket ponchos and straw hats. Their leader steps forward, “Mr. Manfred, the Capri Suns you have us using to juice the balls is not working.” Their leader pulls out a baseball that is dripping with Ecto Cooler. Manfred turns in his seat, silhouetted with the setting sun. He lights a Virginia Slim 120 and pulls, coughing slightly. “I no longer want the balls juiced. Now….I want you and your friends to go to Dodger Stadium and blow.” “Mr. Manfred, we are not sex workers!” “Not blow like that! Put your lips together and blow.” “Like Bogey and Bacall?” “Yes! Now go!” …And this was how Dodger Stadium became a launching pad. Yesterday, Corey Seager (4-for-5, 6 RBIs) hit three homers (10, 11, 12), Yasmani Grandal (3-for-5, 2 runs) hit his 7th homer and Cody Launchangler (1-for-3, 2 RBIs) did it again, hitting his 22nd. Granted, someone needs to put Cody Launchangler in carbonite for Cooperstown — we can’t risk something happening to him playing baseball! — but this Seager guy is pretty good too, huh? Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Mike Montgomery – 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.26. Solid start, not sensational. I do like Montgomery and would grab him for his next start, but I’m not sold on him long-term yet. His peripherals are surprisingly awful. Way too many walks, way too few Ks, but he should be in the rotation for a good month, and I’m excited to see what he can do. Hopefully something decent.

Anthony Rizzo – 1-for-3 and his 17th homer and 17th RBI. JK (not Jason Kipnis), but if he stays at leadoff, it could come to that.

Ian Happ – 1-for-3 and his 9th homer, hitting .218. Nothing against Happ, but why is Happ hitting cleanup? Addison Russell hit .235 for two years in a row and never saw above the seven hole. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I’d put some conspiracies out there, but, since I’m more grounded in reality, I’ll just say I’m too dumb to figure out what conspiracy is at work.

Yangervis Solarte – Strained his oblique and is headed to the DL. Damn, Cousin Sweatpants, you don’t go getting yourself hurt when you’re a hot schmotato.

Austin Hedges – Sat out yesterday after getting splayed by Rizzo on a home plate collision on Monday. Rizzo won’t be disciplined for the collision because everyone likes the Cubs and most people can’t name one Padre.

Zack Cozart – Reds are optimistic that Cozart will be ready to be activated when first eligible on June 28th. Reds manager, Bryan Price, specifically said, “Expletive, expletive, expletive, Cozart, expletive.”

Homer Bailey – Could return over the weekend, or if any Brits are reading Old Bailey to hold court, but this Guy is so Fawkes’d. If Christian Bale fans are reading, Homer Bale-y will return, hitters heard yelling, “Get your bat, man!”

Alex Cobb – 7 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.05. I held Cobb for the better part of yesterday, then dropped him just before game time, because I got gun-shy about the stream. Cold feet. I dialed the seven digits, but couldn’t say, “Yo, this Marquis, baby, are you down with it?”

Jose Abreu – 4-for-5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 12th homer, hitting .303. You know there’s a tad bit of offense when there was legit ten hitters who could’ve been featured in the lede.

Matt Davidson – 2-for-5, and his 16th homer, hitting .261. He now has something like seven homers in the last ten games, and he’s on pace for 30 homers, and he’s available everywhere. Hey, steroid era, eat a D!

Ervin Santana – 5 IP, 6 ER, ERA up to 2.97. Forget the Regression Fairies, it’s admirable that anyone would want to pitch in the major leagues with the way offense is. Five innings and six earned is great!

Aaron Sanchez – Will throw batting practice on Thursday as he rehabs from a blister that’s sidelined him about as long as a blister sidelines a professional baseball player — two months.

Francisco Liriano – 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 5.76. *pats Liriano on butt* Get ’em next time, champ! *Keith Morrison of Dateline NBC enters* “What Liriano doesn’t know is the coach was patting him on the butt with a poisonous dart. Hi, I’m Keith Morrison from Dateline.”

Austin Slater – 1-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 2nd homer, hitting .340. Of course he is! As I said previously, Slater was not a prized prospect, but the Giants always make something out of nothing, like your wife.

Ben Gamel – 3-for-5, 2 runs and his 3rd homer, hitting .351. If he’s doing all of this for his failed prospect brother, Mat, why does Mat grumble every time Ben gets a hit? Ben Gamel looks like a little bit of nothing type, but he’s obviously hot and was leading off yesterday.

Taylor Motter – 2-for-4 and his 7th homer. He must’ve had that left over from his hot week in April.

J.D. Martinez – 2-for-4 and his 12th homer. There were 978 homers hit yesterday, so singling Martinez out as Just Dong feels like it’s underselling things.

Zach Britton – Began a rehab stint in Low-A Aberdeen. Think you should prolly go with aberdeen if you’re Low-A, but you do you.

Chris Tillman – 4 IP, 5 ER, ERA up to 8.39. At a certain point, is anyone in the organization at all concerned Tillman might be hurting his confidence? I mean, as of right now, he could be coached by Jose Mesa while wearing an Omar Vizquel mask, and it would be more helpful to his career.

Manny Machado – 4-for-4, 3 runs, 4 RBIs and his 14th and 15th homers, hitting .227. Legit, have no idea what the problem is with Machado. No, I don’t mean, I don’t know why he’s not hitting well. I mean, I do not know why people think he has a problem. He’s struggling, clearly. He could also hit .320 for the next three months and would anyone be surprised? Not to answer, but to nod vacantly like you know what I mean when you don’t.

Jonathan Schoop – 2-for-4 and his 14th homer, hitting .289. Schoop, there it is! Which is what the CVS guy says when you ask him where is the toothpaste aisle.

Edwin Encarnacion – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 17th homer. Samesies as Machado, but Edwin’s a bit further along and now people are panicking there’s not enough time to sell him low.

Edinson Volquez – 4 2/3 IP, 6 ER, ERA up to 4.19. For those keeping track, I benched Edinson for his no-hitter but have started him for all his mollywhoppings. I’m smart, y’all!

Gio Gonzalez – 7 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 2.96. Put Gio’s current year stats in the Wayback Machine and they look like 75% of all starters. And by ‘wayback’ I mean three years ago. Now, Gio looks like a top ten starter. For what it’s Werth, his peripherals don’t look as pretty, but who gives AF? I’m not using AF correctly there, am I?

Daniel Murphy – 2-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 12th homer. I have illusions (delusions?) of Murphy still underperforming, but those illusions might be delusions (that’s what I said).

Matt Albers – 1 IP, 0 ER and the perfect ninth inning! Dot dot dot. In a game the Nats led by nine runs.

Michael Taylor – 1-for-4, 2 runs and 2 steals (6, 7), hitting .261, but hitting around .300 in the last week with two homers. I like Taylor, but he’s hitting eighth in an NL lineup, so the league needs to be relatively deep to get crazy excited for him.

Andrew McCutchen – 3-for-3, 2 runs, 3 RBIs and his 14th homer, hitting .268. The Rise of the Zombino, starring Knee McClutchin. “Why does that after-dead guy keep grabbing his knee?” That’s a 12-year-old not understanding the plot of the movie.

Jeanmar Gomez – Designated for assignment. His assignment: learn a new sport.

Michael Saunders – Designated for assignment. His assignment: coach Jeanmar in all his new endeavors.

Tommy Pham – 2-for-5, 2 RBIs and his 7th homer. As someone who owns this guy in a deep league, he’s only pretending to be good. A real flim-Pham artist!

Bud Norris – Hit the DL with knee inflammation, which will open up the closer job again for…Someone. Cam Bedrosian (1 IP, 0 ER) entered yesterday’s game in the 7th inning and it was a potential save situation. The Angels must be using a closer by committee where they have one closer on the DL. When Bedrosian was first on the DL, he was the ‘closer.’ Now Norris is the ‘closer’ while he’s injured, and they’re saying Huston Street could close games, and he’s, you guessed it, on the DL. The Sciosciapath is ghost riding the bullpen into the insane asylum. While everyone the Angels like as the closer are injured, David Hernandez was saved for the 9th inning in a close game, and has a 2.38 ERA, so he’s good as anyone. If you skimmed all of that, grab Hernandez, though you likely skimmed this line too.

Cameron Maybin – 3-for-5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 5th homer. Since he’s returned from the DL, he has eight steals and two homers in ten games. Everyone in the league should be like that lady in Katz’s when Sally faked an orgasm. “I’ll have what Maybin’s having.”

Luis Valbuena – 2-for-5, 2 RBIs and his 5th homer, and his 2nd homer in as many games. Valbuena is the type to go on one of these insane hot streaks, so grab him now while the schmotato burns bright.

Jacoby Ellsbury – Ready for batting practice as he works his way back from a concussion. He said he feels great, then walked into a closet saying he had to use the bathroom.

Gary Sanchez – 1-for-3 and his 12th homer. It’s happening with Rizzo, it’s happening with Sanchez, it’s happened many times before. Any guesses what? A manager tries a new convoluted lineup, it works and then they stick with it. Sanchez started hitting after getting moved to the six hole and now he’s stuck there. We should have a glossary term for this, when managers change a lineup for the worse, it works and then they stick with it. Please suggest in the comments.

Jorge Bonifacio – 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 10th homer. George Goodface is a solid AL-Only guy, but he’s gonna bore you to pieces in mixed leagues. You wanna get bored to pieces? You have a Humpty Dumpty complex?

Pablo Sandoval – Hit the DL with the flu. Sandoval said, “But I don’t have the flu.”

Chris Sale – 8 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 2.85. *closes storybook* …And that’s the story of the year in baseball when there was only one reliable pitcher. Now get some sleep, 9-year-old Fred Savage.

Thanks a million for the write-up! Really well executed, like a Ron LeFlore straight steal of home plate!!

a. In Paris, made it this far! Will be home in about 7.5 hours from now.

b. LOL on the dearth of bad pitching last night! To wit, I started Strahm and his 15.00 ERA for his 3 INN pitched, ergo not good right? Only I gained one point in ERA and am now 2nd in ERA in that RCL with Springer, Story and Machado!! So, when there’s a lot of offense, it’s really important to get as much of it as possible on your team. Am 1st in HR in that RCL and tied for 1st in RBIs. Still far away in runs and I believe that the team that wins runs will win the league, as a general rule.

c. There’s like a record heatwave that’s hit most of Europe lately along with this rash of random terrorist acts. It’s a crazy time we live in. Still when someone complains that it’s 75 on June 20 and they’re dying from the heat, you got to say, ‘Dude, man the F up! In Africa 75 is your overnight low and you love it!’

c. John Rambo Quote of the day for June 21

Colonel Trautman: ‘It was a bad time for everyone, Rambo. It’s all in the past now.’

Rambo: ‘FOR YOU! For me, civilian life is nothing. In the field, we had a code of honor. You watch my back, I watch yours. Back here, there’s nothing!

Colonel Trautman: ‘You’re the last of an elite group…don’t end it like this.’

Rambo: ‘Back there I could fly a gunship, I could drive a tank, I was in charge of a million dollar equipment! Back here, I can’t even hold a job parking cars!’

@pickleball: I recently picked up Estrada, was unfortunate enough to have him in my lineup a game or 2, then dropped him. He appears to be a streamer on days I dont have him, so you should be good to go because I probably wont be picking him up again.

Damn Yahoo! A guys got 22 homeruns and isn’t even in the Yahoo universe. Anybody else having this issue? C’mon Yahoo get Cody Launchangler in the Y! Universe. I’ve searched for him prolly every day but still not there! Must be why Funston is gone…. By the way, what team does Launchangler play for, I can’t seem to find him on any active rosters….

@Count de Monetball: He is definitely available in the Yahoo universe…he is supporting 3 of my teams right now…..not sure what crazy settings you have where the Dodgers 1B/OF is not showing up…..maybe search for all players rather than available players… he is probably sitting on someone elses roster….

Gray, I switch the settings to future Hall of Famer’s and found him Haha! Great write up today sir! I just wish with all that offense splashing around that I would’ve got some of it! 4/35 yesterday ouch!

Scheduled in the Friday Night Death Slot, Sanford & Son seemed destine for cancellation due to the often terminal lineup placement. However, & similar to the less than politically correct humor here at Razzball, Fred & Lamont Sanford’s special brand of sarcastic bigotry entertained for years and became one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. Their precarious spot in the TV lineup worked and they stuck with it. Girardi similarly ‘Sanford & SONed’ the lineup, moving Gary Sanchez to the 6th spot in the order.

@Cram It: I checked the HR leaders for S’s and G’s and figured that 12 was a solid cut off for potential 30 HR seasons using the ridiculously unscientific “the All Star break is the half way point” and you can double first half counting stats to get pace blah blah blah 74! 74 people have at least 12 HR right now. 105 have at least 10.

@B the Esq.: Objection your Honor! Cull and Maz are clearly young studs. Taijuan is fine but Pollock is a 29 year old who’s played 1 full season because he can’t stay healthy. I’ll allow it, sustained!

Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Seasonsays:
June 21, 2017 at 5:27 am (link)

hold neshek or start grabbing LAA guys who aren’t owned and from this point forward might have this gig, middleton, street, even parker (although clearly parker isn’t the guy he’s the a.miller west) hernandez.

@Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season: Right now Neshak actually has the job, I think, so ride with him for now. No idea what the Sosciopath will do, so its completely random luck if you choose right now.

Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Seasonsays:
June 21, 2017 at 7:50 am (link)

@B the Esq.: i’m not seeing for sure that neshek has anything, neris been used again there and i’m reading neshek himself wants high leverage spots NOT closer spot. that’s why i asked. if it was clear neshek was anything i’d easily hold and not think twice.

@malamoney: it was just a play on one if by land, two if by sea. Bellinger can’t = land for he is a god.

Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Seasonsays:
June 21, 2017 at 6:06 am (link)

with this roster, got beat to mancini off waivers
C pina (till hedges is good)
1B rizzo
2B treat urner
SS story
3B lamb
OF (3) c-sant/brocktune/d.peralta
util (2) souza/hernan
BN brinson/lowrie/hoskins/hedges
NA fisher
DL braun (this dude’s body is seriously F’d, no wonder i got him so cheap in draft at around 35 or so)
for power which of gomez/joc/chisenhall, can platoon chisenhall. joc should be platooned by isn’t lately.

2. deeper league but surprisingly shallower question. souza or gomez? OBP with total bases in both.

Two days ago I started Zack Wheeler in my NL only league and he got LIT UP…I also have Gsellman on that same team, and I thought to myself “Hey me. Wheeler burned you in what is supposed to be a pitcher friendly park. Do I really want to chance it again?” I kept Gsellman on my bench. Winning with getting a Win! A Fool me once example in action! A nerd version of the Wide World of Sports Intro! Exclamation point!

This is a weird season. I’ve got 6 of the Razzball top 17 hitters (Mookie, Arenado, Rizzo, Lindor, Myers, Donaldson), and I’m in fourth place. While killing all the pitching categories – the problem is my bats. I’m top three in wins, k’s, era and whip. Is this Trump-related?

@Grey:
. I was playing off the whole Sense and Sensibility thing (although I have not read it), and google told me the sensibility part refers to, “In Regency England, sensibility had a different meaning than it does today. It meant a tendency to be overly emotional and/or romantic, or even to be overly influenced by the inputs from your senses rather than by reason” and that is me quoting a quora answers board.

I think I outwitted myself too by trying to be to clever. This made more sense in my head at the time of posting.

So, I’ve been holding Bedrosian all season, worrying that he’d lose the CL role to Norris or Street . . . and now I’ve got to worry about him losing it to Hernandez with one of the other relievers going on the DL and one coming off? What. The. F.

I thought about grabbing Hernandez off waivers, per your advice above, but my roster is jam-packed with injuries and suspensions. Do you REALLY think Yo-Yoscia is going to stick with Hernandez longterm when he’ll have Bedrosian, Street (soon), and Norris (less soon) all pitching in front of him? I think this was a let’s-let-Cam-pitch-in-some-lower-pressure-situations-for-now move, no?

Somehow, Im in a tie for first (Trust in SON). The pitchers I have are all streamers aside from Carrasco and Verlander (unfortunately). I probably dont need JD, but will take him if you think its a good deal and would put Trea Turner at SS.

@Marty Jannetty Was Set Up: Side note: This is living proof 1. you dont need to draft SPs early to win, 2. Razzball is hands down the best fantasy site on planet earth. My roster changes weekly and I smash teams with my bats.

Drop Max Kepler for Mazara? That’s a no brainer, right? Also, guys like Sunday Santana or Cameron Maybin? Feels like both of those would be better too? (I’m just really sick of Kepler, is what I’m saying, and I own him everywhere. Thanks.)

B. Paxton at home versus DET. tough one. he has sucked, but so did Cole for awhile. please advise.

C. So I had my teeth whitened yesterday (gift groupon from wife, although wtf kind of gift is that?). what a pain in the ass. spent three hours at this money grubber dentist (he miraculously discovered all these fillings that need to be redone, what an asswipe) and now I can’t drink coffee for 48 hours?! well as you maybe can imagine that shit is impossible. I drank a cup just now (broke down, I was dying) with a straw and let the stream of liquid hit the back of my throat and then quickly rinsed out my mouth with water.

D. Hitting this year is outta control. The last 3-4 days my guys have killed, but I have lost hitting points overall. It’s crazy. They must have done something to the balls? I read somewhere or heard that the stitches are smaller so the ball is breaking less. Or did I just make that up?

Hey Grey- that first ER for Greinke I just don’t get. Desmond singles, advances to second on throwing error. With a wild pitch he goes to third and scores on an error by the catcher. How is that not unearned?

Anywho! In my 12 team H2H OBP OPS keeper (keep 4 only), I can potentially snag Cody Bellinger at $5 (cheapest possible salary) for my $5 Alonso plus one of $25 Stras or $29 Kluber. High price, but worth it for one of the best keepers available in my league?

I’m in the playoffs and will likely have the first round bye, but don’t have many killer cheap keepers on my roster, so Bellinger would be a great addition. The price is high though . . . fair deal? Any preference between Stras/Kluber? (I’d lean to sell Stras and keep Kluber, only b/c who knows if Stras will be healthy come Sept. playoffs).

@Grey: yeah I figure springer is ahead of the curve as far as his projections and like you said on podcast Bryant will get his as Wrigley heats up. I had to throw in a top pitcher cuz the dude didn’t want to do trade so I did ray cuz his hr/fb % and I can see him regressing and giving up a lot of homers at home this summer. I have gray and Duffy (gulp) coming of DL soon. Thx for the advice.

Don’t sell EE. He’s going to be a top ten hitter rest of the year just like always. It surprises me that more people don’t remember that he stinks every April/May. Every year…should I sell EE questions for two months. Guy likes cold weather less than Jorge Soler and his snow suit uniform.

Alex Cobb is the best “pitcher” in the major leagues right now. He’s got absolutely nothing. His stuff is terrible. He used to have the best change up in the game and now he can’t even throw it. Based on stuff alone he should never get anybody out. When he retires he’s going to immediately become the best pitching coach in the game.

I heard a comment on the radio recently that scouts had been whispering about how good Parker Bridewell’s stuff looks. He’s a 25 year old non-prospect with very middling minor league results. Looks like he misses bats and the strike zone a fair amount. Anyway in a pitching starved league I picked him up but didn’t start him but did watch him. I can see the interesting stuff thing. He’s got 96 with some late movement. He’s got a funky slider/change hybrid thing. He managed to hold his own for five innings @NYY. His arm slot is all over the place so the command is pretty iffy. But it did not appear to be a super comfortable AB. I’d keep an eye on him.

Remember we were talking before the 2016. I was saying it looked a lot like the ball was probably juiced and the offense would be up. Predicted somebody would hit 60 (my guess was Chris Davis)? Well a thing I said then which I totally want to reiterate because I really really think this is true about fantasy baseball and I don’t see anybody else saying it. When offense goes up, the value of starting pitchers goes down. All starting pitchers. Even the good ones. You need to invest MORE of your resources in hitting when offense is like this. In my NFBC 15 my first SP drafted was McCullers pretty late. I’ve had Paxton, Morton, Harvey, some Rockies, assorted streamers, Straily, bunch of crap. My closers are Kintzler and Knebel and I’m top 4 in pitching points. In times of steroid like offense, pitching match ups and parks become more important. It’s actually a boon to active players as you just need to manage the crap out of it.

I’m really not sure why it is. I have a couple of theories. All I know is that in the steroid era, I wouldn’t take any pitching until like round 10. In the new dead ball era I came back around and started advocating that you needed not 1 but 2 aces (a style that was very popular and very successful in the NFBC especially) and now I’m back to saying you can wait until very late in pitching in just about any format.

@OaktownSteve: i’ve heard both yours
1. all pitchers lose value
and the more common
2. top enders (SP) gain value (kershaw etc) and all the rest lose value. i.e. make sure you have one ace then make sure all other top 7 picks are hitters.

@OaktownSteve: I was joking with sell Edwin low, hope that was clear…. Bridwell looked like a pen arm to me…. I agree with investing in hitting, as I say to invest in deep positions vs. ones like catchers… You need the best if everyone’s is good… Pitching is so marginal, I have a 3.50 ERA in a 12 team mixed and I have like a 10 in ERA

How far apart are Dickerson and Thames in dynastys? I’m still not totally sold C-Dick is this studly due to his anemic BB rate. I’m trying to add a smaller piece to get Thames, you’d rather have him going forward by little/much?

Had one of your Rendon terror feelings last night. Made the trade for Seager yesterday in a CBS league. It got processed late afternoon, and I didnt see it before games locked and did not drop Whit in time.

A) I give Peralta and get Gio.
1) Do I need Gio?
2) Is that a fair trade?
3) Hernan Perez, Choo, Fowler, Matt Davidson, Altherr, Gennett – if you say do the trade, who do I pick up as Trout’s placeholder?

@Stream Weaver: Didn’t see this when I posted – he needs 1 more game… anyone’s guess when that 1 game happens. I wouldn’t be surprised if Maddon doesn’t shift Rizzo to 2B ROS just to mess with everyone in Yahoo.

I’ll be able to pick up one player fo free, but then will have some decisions to make. Logan Morrison is available as a 1B, Haniger, Mallex, Souza, ODB are all free as OF options. I need hits, SB’s and average. I could play Bellinger at 1B and move Healy to 3B or drop him. Could drop Drury. Could drop Peraza. Lots of options, would love your opinion.

Lost Norris to DL-was going to put wavier bid for Cam but you suggest Hernandez-currently have Giles and Holland as closers. Best to wait for the other shoe to drop on the closer carousel and use Norris spot for streaming pitchers or add Hernandez and hope for the best.
Thanks

2) Picked up B McCarthy in my shallow 10 teamed mixed league for the spot start last night, and was surprised by how good his numbers are. Where do you slot him in moving forward? Top 35 guy like a J Nelson and Happ, per your podcast talk? Higher, lower?

In dire need of pitching as I have Sonny gray cueto hoffman and godley (thats it for starters) i have 5 closers. Should i trade Segura and Odor for Carlos martinez and Calhoun? I have didi and pedroia for ss/2b. Or is that too much for Cmart

I was just offered Bruce and Carpenter for Springer in a H2H redraft where I’m struggling.
Will Bruce maintain his current production and Carpenter serve as a proficient enough Odor-full-in (until he comes around) for it to be worthwhile? I’m leaning toward no but like to throw these things out for commenter comments.

I’ve long been a fan of Montgomery, he’s got three pitches that get swings and misses, and drive groundballs in the curve, change, and cutter. He’s just 1.5% of whiffs on the cutter from having three pitches with a 10% SwStr, and 50%+ GB%. None of this mean’s he’s good, but there’s some upside.

@Grey: it’s just one — based on the latin phrase “post hoc, ergo propter hoc” which is the logical fallacy of believing that because the second event (e.g., a home run) happened after the first event (e.g., being moved in the lineup) then the first event must have caused the second event.

@Grey: the man with the yellow hat is always taking me to the library! I read all the dinosaur books, all the books about firetrucks (I love fire trucks) and all the books about jungle animals. Eventually it was Latin phrase books!

I have Paxton also… so I’m thinking about putting all my eggs in his basket… then doing naughty things to the basket hoping for some Paxton babies that will grow up left handed throwing gas so they can take care of me the rest of my life…

Yo Grey! Had an interesting counter thrown my way while trying to trade for Xander.

I am looking to move an OF for him and landed on Conforto (out of Ozuna, Yoenis, Khris, Desmond, C Santana). I offered Desmond to eventually counter with Conforto, but he countered with Story for Desmond.

Was offered Gallo for Andrew Miller in a s/h league. I want more power but with Donaldson & Goldy on the corners I dunno where Gallo’d fit + I’ve been rotating Didi/Story/Shaw to the extra INF position.

Does Story offer the power I’m looking for? He’s certainly looked much better since June arrived –
hitting .300 for the month so far. Are the dingers next? I think I’ve talked myself out of this trade

1. Not a fan of trading pitchers but have an offer of his Arrieta for my Verlander. Both struggling but thinking perhaps a Cub is a better path to wins? Or just trading headaches here?

2. Would you trade Verlander and K Seager for Greinke? I would use the open slot to grab Holliday or Addison. My CI and Utility positions are good….Rizzo, LoMo, Lamb, Pujols. So I could part with the soon-to-get-hot Seager!

3. Would you trade Quintana for Maurer?

I own Rizzo and Schebler. If Solo HRs was a category, I would be golden.

Should I deal Odor for Pineda? In dire need of an SP and have Pedroia and Segura as my other 2B’s. Any thoughts? Also, I seem to favor the term”Bojangle” (with the long “o”) for a manager who messes up the lineup, then keeps it when it works.

1. Long term who will be the better fantasy SS, Correa or Seager?
2. Got an offer of McCullers, Rodon, Snell, Avisail Garcia, Longoria for Seager, Springer, Giolito which is a no.
3. My bats are stacked, but I’d like some more pitching. Would a counter of
Seager, Springer, Norris, (or Pineda, Walker, Ross, Biagini, Pomeranz, Maeda, Salazar, Martes)
for Wood, McCullers, Rodon, Garcia, Longoria be giving up too much value?

I value bats more, which is why I’ve accumulated them. But we use 10 starts per week. I’m getting by with Kershaw, Pineda, and Cole my only somewhat consistent options. We increase keepers 2 each year, and are up to 14 with 2 minor league spots next season. So I’d like a couple more top end pitchers to rely on and as keepers going into next year. Thoughts? Thanks for all your guys help and wisdom

@Grey: what about carter, albeit if i grab carter over valencia i’d have only longo at 3B entirely (and pujols in CI still) carter would either be util or sub for pujols off days, or maybe pujols benched.

12 team league strategy question. I have Jon gray coming back next week. I may trying to do a 2 for 1 to get a roster spot and then I would pick up Duffy to stash in the dl spot gray is currently in. If I can tell make a trade I will need to cut maeda. Should I just cut maeda now for Duffy to ensure getting him or should I hold on to maeda still trying to get a trade.

16 team league with this injured mess of a rotation. QS/holds added, 6 keepers and thor/pollock in DL slots
SP wood/pomeranz (i got lucky to have been able to add him right when he was at his worst and i needed SP the most)/meyer/norris/hahn/shoemaker/sabathia/rodon/paulino (was adleman today)
RP norris/glover/betances/rivero/barnes

hold norris or drop for one of hernandez/phelps/barnes (MIL)/strickland or drop one of the SP, hold norris and grab one of these?

In first in my keeper league (15 team, 5×5, mixed; outfield spots broken down by position) narrowly, want to consolidate my starting pitching (Greinke, Wood, Jimmy Nelson, J. Montgomery, Fulmer) and strengthen 2b (chris taylor) and 3b (longo). I have Bour at CI and Smoak at U. Another owner wants to do a fire sale — is this a reasonable return for Rizzo and some bits of fluff.? Or should I hold and put him at 2b in couple weeks?

Thanks man! I could also just get away with trading my correa to her for machado and leaving the pitchers out of it so just hanging onto ray. What do you think. Oh and by she i mean she my girlfriend. Last thing i want to do is fuck this up and have her thinking about robbie ray when we have sex while i think about what used to be with lester. Redraft points. By the way.